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Free space optical communication (FSO) has become a popular research direction due to its high bandwidth, easy deployment, and inherent security. Its channel state is unstable because of atmospheric environment, especially in long‐distance ground transmission system. Interleaving combined with forward error correction coding (FEC) have been utilised to improve the stability of system. However, there is little detailed experimental results of deep interleaving combined with FEC under different atmospheric turbulence intensity over long‐distance FSO system. A deep interleaving with FEC method was designed and implemented on a 7 km long online experiment. The performance of different depth interleaving is analysed under weak and strong atmospheric turbulence state. The experiment results show that deep interleaving performs better under weak turbulence for the larger correlation factor of the channel and the outage probability of the system with deep interleaving can be greatly reduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Preventing and treating avascular necrosis at the distal end of the flaps are critical to surgery success, but current treatments are not ideal. A recent study shows that apoptotic bodies (ABs) generated near the site of apoptosis can be taken up and promote cell proliferation. The study reveals that ABs derived from fibroblast‐like cells in the subcutaneous connective tissue (FSCT cells) of skin flaps promoted ischaemic flap survival. It is also found that ABs inhibited cell death and oxidative stress and promoted M1‐to‐M2 polarization in macrophages. Transcriptome sequencing and protein level testing demonstrated that ABs promoted ischaemic flap survival in endothelial cells and macrophages by inhibiting ferroptosis via the KEAP1‐Nrf2 axis. Furthermore, microRNA (miR) sequencing data and in vitro and in vivo experiments demonstrated that ABs inhibited KEAP1 by delivering miR‐339‐5p to exert therapeutic effects. In conclusion, FSCT cell‐derived ABs inhibited ferroptosis, promoted the macrophage M1‐to‐M2 transition via the miR‐339‐5p/KEAP1/Nrf2 axis and promoted ischaemic flap survival. These results provide a potential therapeutic strategy to promote ischaemic flap survival by administering ABs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a complicated disease that involves apoptosis and mitophagy. MST1 is a pro‐apoptotic factor. Hence, decreasing its expression plays an anti‐apoptotic effect. This study aims to investigate the protective effect of MST1 inhibition on OA and the underlying processes. Immunofluorescence (IF) was used to detect MST1 expression in cartilage tissue. Western Blot, ELISA and IF were used to analyse the expression of inflammation, extracellular matrix (ECM) degradation, apoptosis and mitophagy‐associated proteins. MST1 expression in chondrocytes was inhibited using siRNA and shRNA in vitro and in vivo. Haematoxylin–Eosin, Safranin O‐Fast Green and alcian blue staining were used to evaluate the therapeutic effect of inhibiting MST1. This study discovered that the expression of MST1 was higher in OA patients. Inhibition of MST1 reduced inflammation, ECM degradation and apoptosis and enhanced mitophagy in vitro. MST1 inhibition slows OA progression in vivo. Inhibiting MST1 suppressed apoptosis, inflammation and ECM degradation via promoting Parkin‐mediated mitophagy and the Nrf2‐NF‐κB axis. The results suggest that MST1 is a possible therapeutic target for the treatment of osteoarthritis as its inhibition delays the progression of OA through the Nrf2‐NF‐κB axis and mitophagy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the presence of natural neoantigens, autologous tumor cells hold great promise as personalized therapeutic vaccines. Yet autologous tumor cell vaccines require multi‐step production that frequently leads to the loss of immunoreactive antigens, causing insufficient immune activation and significantly hampering their clinical applications. Herein, we introduce a novel whole‐cell cancer vaccine by cloaking cancer cells with lipopolysaccharide‐decorated manganese(II)‐phenolic networks (MnTA nanocloaks) to evoke tumor‐specific immune response for highly efficacious synergistic cancer immunotherapy. The natural polyphenols coordinate with Mn2+ and immediately adhere to the surface of individual cancer cells, thereby forming a nanocloak and encapsulating tumor neoantigens. Subsequent decoration with lipopolysaccharide induces internalization by dendritic cells, where Mn2+ ions are released in the cytosol, further facilitating the activation of the stimulator of the interferon genes (STING) pathway. Highly effective tumor suppression was observed by combining the nanocloaked cancer cell treatment with anti‐programmed cell death ligand 1 (anti‐PD‐L1) antibodies‐mediated immune checkpoint blockade therapy. Our work demonstrates a universal yet simple strategy to engineer a cell‐based nanobiohybrid system for enhanced cancer immunotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Purpose: Autophagy is a protective factor for controlling neuronal damage, while necroptosis promotes neuroinflammation after spinal cord injury (SCI). DADLE (D‐Ala2, D‐Leu5]‐enkephalin) is a selective agonist for delta (δ) opioid receptor and has been identified as a promising drug for neuroprotection. The aim of this study was to investigate the mechanism/s by which DADLE causes locomotor recovery following SCI. Experimental approach: Spinal cord contusion model was used and DADLE was given by i.p. (16 mg·kg−1) in mice for following experiments. Motor function was assessed by footprint and Basso mouse scale (BMS) score analysis. Western blotting used to evaluate related protein expression. Immunofluorescence showed the protein expression in each cell and its distribution. Network pharmacology analysis was used to find the related signalling pathways. Key Results: DADLE promoted functional recovery after SCI. In SCI model of mice, DADLE significantly increased autophagic flux and inhibited necroptosis. Concurrently, DADLE restored autophagic flux by decreasing lysosomal membrane permeabilization (LMP). Additionally, chloroquine administration reversed the protective effect of DADLE to inhibit necroptosis. Further analysis showed that DADLE decreased phosphorylated cPLA2, overexpression of cPLA2 partially reversed DADLE inhibitory effect on LMP and necroptosis, as well as the promotion autophagy. Finally, AMPK/SIRT1/p38 pathway regulating cPLA2 is involved in the action DADLE on SCI and naltrindole inhibited DADLE action on δ receptor and on AMPK signalling pathway. Conclusion and Implication: DADLE causes its neuroprotective effects on SCI by promoting autophagic flux and inhibiting necroptosis by decreasing LMP via activating δ receptor/AMPK/SIRT1/p38/cPLA2 pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: The study aims to develop a hybrid machine learning model for predicting resectability of the pancreatic cancer, which is based on computed tomography (CT) and National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines. Method: We retrospectively studied 349 patients. One hundred seventy‐one cases from Center 1 and 92 cases from Center 2 were used as the primary training cohort, and 66 cases from Center 3 and 20 cases from Center 4 were used as the independent test dataset. Semi‐automatic module of ITK‐SNAP software was used to assist CT image segmentation to obtain three‐dimensional (3D) imaging region of interest (ROI). There were 788 handcrafted features extracted for 3D ROI using PyRadiomics. The optimal feature subset consists of three features screened by three feature selection methods as the input of the SVM to construct the conventional radiomics‐based predictive model (cRad). 3D ROI was used to unify the resolution by 3D spline interpolation method for constructing the 3D tumor imaging tensor. Using 3D tumor image tensor as input, 3D kernelled support tensor machine‐based predictive model (KSTM), and 3D ResNet‐based deep learning predictive model (ResNet) were constructed. Multi‐classifier fusion ML model is constructed by fusing cRad, KSTM, and ResNet using multi‐classifier fusion strategy. Two experts with more than 10 years of clinical experience were invited to reevaluate each patient based on their CECT following the NCCN guidelines to obtain resectable, unresectable, and borderline resectable diagnoses. The three results were converted into probability values of 0.25, 0.75, and 0.50, respectively, according to the traditional empirical method. Then it is used as an independent classifier and integrated with multi‐classifier fusion machine learning (ML) model to obtain the human–machine fusion ML model (HMfML). Results: Multi‐classifier fusion ML model's area under receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC; 0.8610), predictive accuracy (ACC: 80.23%), sensitivity (SEN: 78.95%), and specificity (SPE: 80.60%) is better than cRad, KSTM, and ResNet‐based single‐classifier models and their two‐classifier fusion models. This means that three different models have mined complementary CECT feature expression from different perspectives and can be integrated through CFS‐ER, so that the fusion model has better performance. HMfML's AUC (0.8845), ACC (82.56%), SEN (84.21%), SPE (82.09%). This means that ML models might learn extra information from CECT that experts cannot distinguish, thus complementing expert experience and improving the performance of hybrid ML models. Conclusion: HMfML can predict PC resectability with high accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trichocyte keratins hold significant promise in accelerating wound healing. Yet it is difficult to discriminate characteristics and mechanisms from their subtypes because of the high sequence homology. Here, the distinct wound healing properties in terms of wound closure rate, epidermal regeneration and angiogenesis of 17 kinds of human hair keratins is reported. Each trichocyte keratin shows distinct behaviors with unique advantages. Amongst all, recombinant keratin (RK) 33B, RK34, RK39 and RK84 show the highest efficiency in wound closure acceleration, and RK34, RK37 and RK81 presented the strongest angiogenic performance. Furthermore, transcriptomic analysis revealed the regulatory mechanisms of trichocyte keratins in the proliferation and migration of keratinocyte and blood vessel generation. Finally, the keratins with strong re-epithelialization and angiogenic performances significantly accelerate wound closure in a diabetic rat model established in-house. The findings provide a panorama view of trichocyte keratin performance in wound healing and that may harbor potential for finely tailored keratin development and precision applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: To investigate whether the association between sleep patterns and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk differs according to glucose tolerance status. Materials and Methods: This prospective study included 358,805 participants initially free of CVD from the UK Biobank. We created a sleep score based on five sleep factors (sleep duration, chronotype, insomnia, snoring, and daytime sleepiness) with one point for each unhealthy factor. Cox proportional hazards models were used to examine the association between sleep and incident CVD, including coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke, according to normal glucose tolerance (NGT), prediabetes, and diabetes. Results: During a median follow‐up of 12.4 years, 29,663 incident CVD events were documented. There was a significant interaction between sleep score and glucose tolerance status on CVD (P for interaction = 0.002). Each 1 point increment in sleep score was associated with a 7% (95% confidence interval 6%–9%), 11% (8%–14%), and 13% (9%–17%) higher risk of CVD among participants with NGT, prediabetes, and diabetes, respectively. Similar interaction patterns were observed for CHD and stroke. Among the individual sleep factors, sleep duration and insomnia significantly interacted with glucose tolerance status on CVD outcomes (all P for interaction <0.05). All five unhealthy sleep factors accounted for 14.2% (8.7%–19.8%), 19.5% (7.4%–31.0%), and 25.1% (9.7%–39.3%) of incident CVD cases among participants with NGT, prediabetes, and diabetes, respectively. Conclusions: The CVD risk associated with a poor sleep pattern was exacerbated across glucose intolerance status. Our findings emphasise the importance of integrating sleep management into a lifestyle modification programme, particularly in people with prediabetes or diabetes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is associated with abnormal brain imaging findings, but descriptions thereof are inconsistent. The aim of the present study was to investigate brain abnormalities in young children with ASD using a combination of structural and functional brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Structural and resting‐state functional MRI was performed in 67 children with ASD (aged 2–7 years) and 39 age‐matched typically developing (TD) controls. Voxel‐based morphometry was used to evaluate differences in brain structure between groups. Topologic parameters of the functional brain network were compared by graph theoretic analysis and network connectomes were compared with network‐based statistics. A support vector machine (SVM) was used to discriminate between ASD and TD groups. Results demonstrated young children with ASD had increased gray matter volumes (GMVs) in the right medial superior frontal gyrus and left fusiform gyrus compared with the TD group. The ASD group had altered subnetwork connectivity in frontal and temporal lobes and other social cognition‐related brain regions. Functional connectivity in the left superior temporal gyrus and left temporal pole of the middle temporal gyrus was positively correlated with adaptability and language developmental quotient (DQ) in children with ASD. The combination of the brain structural and functional features had 86.2% accuracy in discriminating between ASD and TD. The present study shows that young children with ASD have altered GMVs and functional networks in social cognition‐related brain regions, which are potential neuroimaging biomarkers for ASD. Lay Summary: This study explored brain abnormalities in young children with ASD using a combination of structural and functional brain magnetic resonance imaging. Altered GMVs and functional networks in social cognition‐related brain regions were found in subjects with ASD compared with TD controls, which are potential neuroimaging biomarkers for ASD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a serious injury that can lead to irreversible motor dysfunction. Due to its complicated pathogenic mechanism, there are no effective drug treatments. Piperine, a natural active alkaloid extracted from black pepper, has been reported to influence neurogenesis and exert a neuroprotective effect in traumatic brain injury. The aim of this study was to investigate the therapeutic effect of piperine in an SCI model. SCI was induced in mice by clamping the spinal cord with a vascular clip for 1 min. Before SCI and every 2 days post‐SCI, evaluations using the Basso mouse scale and inclined plane tests were performed. On day 28 after SCI, footprint analyses, and HE/Masson staining of tissues were performed. On a postoperative Day 3, the spinal cord was harvested to assess the levels of pyroptosis, reactive oxygen species (ROS), inflammation, and autophagy. Piperine enhanced functional recovery after SCI. Additionally, piperine reduced inflammation, oxidative stress, pyroptosis, and activated autophagy. However, the effects of piperine on functional recovery after SCI were reversed by autophagy inhibition. The study demonstrated that piperine facilitated functional recovery after SCI by inhibiting inflammatory, oxidative stress, and pyroptosis, mediated by the activation of autophagy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A ferrocene surfactant can be switched between single and double head form (FcN+C12/Fc+N+C12) triggered by redox reaction. FcN+C12 can neither stabilize an O/W emulsion alone nor an oil‐in‐dispersion emulsion in combination with alumina nanoparticles due to the steric hindrance of the ferrocene group. However, such steric hindrance can be overcome by increasing the charge density in Fc+N+C12, so that oil‐in‐dispersion emulsions can be co‐stabilized by Fc+N+C12 and alumina nanoparticles at very low concentrations (1×10−7 M (≈50 ppb) and 0.001 wt %, respectively). Not only can reversible formation/destabilization of oil‐in‐dispersion emulsions be achieved by redox reaction, but also reversible transformation between oil‐in‐dispersion emulsions and Pickering emulsions can be obtained through reversing the charge of alumina particles by adjusting the pH. The results provide a new protocol for the design of surfactants for stabilization of smart oil‐in‐dispersion emulsions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: Non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is associated with incident type 2 diabetes; however, the extent to which NAFLD may confer its risk remains uncertain, especially in Europeans. Emerging evidence suggests that sleep behaviors are linked to NAFLD and diabetes. We aimed to measure whether sleep behaviors modified the association between NAFLD and incident type 2 diabetes. Methods: This prospective cohort study included 365 339 participants without type 2 diabetes at baseline in UK Biobank data. Five sleep behaviors, including sleep duration, insomnia, snoring, chronotype, and daytime sleepiness, were collected from the questionnaire. Overall sleep patterns were created by summing the five scores. Liver steatosis was based on the fatty liver index. Results: During a median follow up of 11.0 years, we documented 8774 patients with incident type 2 diabetes. NAFLD was significantly associated with increased diabetes risk. Sleeping 7–8 h/day, no insomnia, no self‐reported snoring, and no frequent daytime sleepiness were independently associated with incident type 2 diabetes, with a 20%, 18%, 16%, and 31% lower risk, respectively. About 33.8% and 33.5% of type 2 diabetes events in this cohort could be attributed to NAFLD and poor sleep pattern, respectively. Participants with NAFLD and poor sleep pattern showed the highest risk of type 2 diabetes (relative risk 3.17, 95% confidence interval 2.80, 3.59). Sleep pattern (healthy, intermediate, and poor) did not significantly modify the association between NAFLD and type 2 diabetes. However, when studying separately, we found a significant interaction between NAFLD and insomnia on the risk of incident type 2 diabetes (P for interaction = 0.003). Conclusion: In this large prospective study, both NAFLD and some sleep behaviors were risk factors for type 2 diabetes. Although overall sleep pattern did not modify the association between NAFLD and type 2 diabetes, certain sleep behavior, especially insomnia, showed the modification effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Purpose: Non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) affects over 25% of the general population and lacks an effective treatment. Recent evidence implicates disrupted mitochondrial calcium homeostasis in the pathogenesis of hepatic steatosis. Experimental Approach: In this study, mitochondrial calcium uniporter (MCU) was inhibited through classical genetic approaches, viral vectors or small molecule inhibitors in vivo to study its role in hepatic steatosis induced by high‐fat diet (HFD). In vitro, MCU was overexpressed or inhibited to change mitochondrial calcium homeostasis, endoplasmic reticulum–mitochondrial linker was adopted to increase mitochondria‐associated membranes (MAMs) and MICU1‐EF hand mutant was used to decrease the sensitivity of mitochondrial calcium uptake 1 (MICU1) to calcium and block MCU channel. Key Results: Here, we found that inhibition of liver MCU by AAV virus and classical genetic approaches can prevent HFD‐induced liver steatosis. MCU regulates mitochondrial calcium homeostasis and affects lipid accumulation in liver cells. In addition, a HFD in mice enlarged the MAM. The high‐calcium environment produced by MAM invalidated the function of MICU1 and led to persistent open of MCU channels. Therefore, it caused mitochondrial calcium overload and liver fat deposition. Inhibition of MAM and MCU alleviated HFD‐induced hepatic steatosis. MCU inhibitors (Ru360 and mitoxantrone) can block MCU channels and reduce mitochondrial calcium levels. Intraperitoneal injection of MCU inhibitors (0.01‐μM·kg−1 bodyweight) can alleviate HFD‐induced hepatic steatosis. Conclusion and Implications: These findings provide molecular insights into the way HFD disrupts mitochondrial calcium homeostasis and identify MCU as a promising drug target for the treatment of hepatic steatosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first atomic layer deposition process for a ternary oxide is reported, which contains a metal of the platinum group, the delafossite PtCoO2. The deposition with the precursors trimethyl‐Pt‐methylcyclopentadienyl, Co‐bis(N‐t‐butyl‐N′‐ethylpropanimidamidate), and oxygen plasma results in a process with a nearly constant growth rate and stoichiometric composition over a wide temperature window from 100 to 320 °C. Annealing of the as‐deposited amorphous films in an oxygen atmosphere in a temperature window from 700 to 800 °C leads to the formation of the delafossite phase. Very thin films show a pronounced preferred orientation with the Pt sheets being almost parallel to the substrate surface while arbitrary orientation is observed for thicker films. The conformal coating of narrow trenches highlights the potential of this atomic‐layer‐deposition process. Moreover, heterostructures with magnetic films are fabricated to demonstrate the potential of PtCoO2 for spintronic applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Purpose: Necrosis of random‐pattern skin flaps limits their clinical application. Helix B surface peptide (HBSP) protects tissues from ischaemia–reperfusion injury but its short plasma half‐life limits its applications. Here, we have synthesized cyclic helix B peptide (CHBP) and investigated its role in flap survival and the underlying mechanisms. Experimental Approach Flap viability was evaluated by survival area analysis, laser Doppler blood flow and histological analysis. RNA sequencing was used to identify mechanisms underlying the effects of CHBP. Levels of autophagy, oxidative stress, pyroptosis, necroptosis and molecules related to the AMP‐activated protein kinase (AMPK)–TRPML1–calcineurin signalling pathway were assayed with Western blotting, RT‐qPCR, immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence. Key Results: The results indicated that CHBP promoted the survival of random‐pattern skin flaps. The results of RNA sequencing analysis indicated that autophagy, oxidative stress, pyroptosis and necroptosis were involved in the ability of CHBP to promote skin flap survival. Restoration of autophagy flux and enhanced resistance to oxidative stress contributed to inhibition of pyroptosis and necroptosis. Increased autophagy and inhibition of oxidative stress in the ischaemic flaps were regulated by transcription factor E3 (TFE3). A decrease in the levels of TFE3 caused a reduction in autophagy flux and accumulation of ROS and eliminated the protective effect of CHBP. Moreover, CHBP regulated the activity of TFE3 via the AMPK–TRPML1–calcineurin signalling pathway. Conclusion and Implications: CHBP promotes skin flap survival by up‐regulating autophagy and inhibiting oxidative stress in the ischaemic flap and may have potential clinical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The fat‐to‐muscle mass ratio (FMR) might be an indicator to assess type 2 diabetes risk independent of general obesity. However, no longitudinal studies have explored the extent to which total and regional FMRs may confer risks. We aimed to measure the sex‐specific associations between FMRs of the arm, leg, trunk and whole body and incident type 2 diabetes. Methods: A total of 464 817 participants (207 286 men and 257 531 women, mean age 56.5 ± 8.2 and 56.2 ± 8.0 years old, respectively) free of diabetes at baseline were included in this prospective cohort study with UK Biobank data. Fat mass and muscle mass were estimated using a bioelectrical impedance assessment device (Tanita BC 418MA). FMR was calculated as fat mass divided by muscle mass in corresponding body parts (total body, arm, leg and trunk). Cox proportional hazard models were used to estimate the aforementioned associations among men and women. Interaction analyses were performed between FMRs and body mass index (BMI) categories (BMI < 25 kg/m2 and BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2). Results: Over the median 11.0 years (5 057 534 person‐years) of follow‐up, we documented 11 618 cases of type 2 diabetes. There was a significantly positive association between total and regional FMR and incident type 2 diabetes, even after adjusting for BMI and other covariates. Compared with other body parts, FMRs of the whole body and leg showed the strongest relationship among men and women, respectively (hazard ratio per 1 SD, 95% confidence interval: 1.67, 1.55–1.80; 1.45, 1.39–1.53). A significant interaction (P for interaction < 0.001) between BMI category and FMRs of different body parts was observed. In the stratified analysis by BMI category and tertiles of FMRs, overweight/obese individuals with a high FMR tertile tended to have the highest hazard ratio, ranging from 5.91 to 7.94 in whole body and regional areas. Conclusions: In this large prospective study, higher total and regional FMRs were associated with a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes, independent of BMI. This association was markedly strengthened in participants with BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel charge‐reversible surfactant, (CH3)2N‐(CH2)10COONa, was designed and synthesized, which together with silica nanoparticles can stabilize a smart n‐octane‐in‐water emulsion responsive to pH. At high pH (9.3) the surfactant is anionic carboxylate, which together with the negatively charged silica nanoparticles co‐stabilize flowable oil‐in‐dispersion emulsions, whereas at low pH (4.1) it is turned to cationic form by forming amine salt which can hydrophobize in situ the negatively charged silica nanoparticles to stabilize viscous oil‐in‐water (O/W) Pickering emulsions. At neutral pH (7.5), however, this surfactant is converted to zwitterionic form, which only weakly hydrophobises the silica particles to stabilize O/W Pickering emulsions of large droplet size. Moreover, demulsification can be achieved rapidly triggered by pH. With this strategy particles can be controlled either dispersed in water or adsorbed at the oil‐water interface endowing emulsions with the capacity for intelligent and precise control of stability as well as viscosity and droplet size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transition‐metal phosphides (TMP) prepared by atomic layer deposition (ALD) are reported for the first time. Ultrathin Co‐P films were deposited by using PH3 plasma as the phosphorus source and an extra H2 plasma step to remove excess P in the growing films. The optimized ALD process proceeded by self‐limited layer‐by‐layer growth, and the deposited Co‐P films were highly pure and smooth. The Co‐P films deposited via ALD exhibited better electrochemical and photoelectrochemical hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activities than similar Co‐P films prepared by the traditional post‐phosphorization method. Moreover, the deposition of ultrathin Co‐P films on periodic trenches was demonstrated, which highlights the broad and promising potential application of this ALD process for a conformal coating of TMP films on complex three‐dimensional (3D) architectures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wir berichten von der erstmaligen erfolgreichen Herstellung von Übergangsmetallphosphiden (TMP) mittels Atomlagenabscheidung (ALD). Ultradünne Co‐P Filme wurden mit PH3‐Plasma als der Phosphorquelle und einem zusätzlichen H2‐Plasma‐Schritt, der zum Entfernen von überschüssigem P aus den wachsenden Schichten dient, abgeschieden. Der optimierte ALD‐Prozess folgte dem selbstsättigenden Schicht‐für‐Schicht‐Wachstumsverhalten und die abgeschiedenen Co‐P‐Filme zeichneten sich durch hohe Reinheit und Glätte aus. Die mittels ALD abgeschiedenen Co‐P‐Filme zeigten bessere elektrochemische und photoelektrochemische Aktivitäten für die Wasserstoffentwicklungsreaktion als gleichartige Co‐P‐Filme, die mit der traditionellen Postphosphorisierungsmethode hergestellt wurden. Außerdem zeigen wir die Abscheidung in periodische Furchen. Dies demonstriert das breite und vielversprechende Anwendungspotential dieses ALD‐Prozesses für die gleichmäßige Beschichtung komplexer dreidimensionaler (3D) Strukturen mit TMP‐Filmen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reducing green hydrogen production costs is essential for developing a hydrogen economy. Developing cost‐effective electrocatalysts for water electrolysis is thus of great research interest. Among various material candidates, transition metal phosphides (TMP) have emerged as robust bifunctional electrocatalysts for both the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) due to their various phases and tunable electronic structure. Recently, heterostructured catalysts have exhibited significantly enhanced activities toward HER/OER. The enhancement can be attributed to the increased amount of accessible active sites, accelerated mass/charge transfer, and optimized adsorption of intermediates, which arise from the synergistic effects of the heterostructure. Herein, a comprehensive overview of the recent progress of bifunctional TMP‐based heterostructure is introduced to provide an insight into their preparation and corresponding reaction mechanisms. It starts with summarizing general fundamental aspects of HER/OER and the synergistic effect of heterostructures for enhanced catalytic activity. Next, the innovational strategies to design and construct bifunctional TMP‐based heterostructures with enhanced overall water splitting activity, as well as the related mechanisms, are discussed in detail. Finally, a summary and perspective for further opportunities and challenges are highlighted for the further development of bifunctional TMP‐based heterostructures from the points of practical application and mechanistic studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The classification and detection of maritime targets are widely used in shipping navigation and military fields. With the development of spaceborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) technology, more and more very high-resolution SAR images can be acquired for maritime targets recognition. However, due to the different imaging mechanisms between SAR images and optical images, it is difficult and laborious to interpret SAR images manually. This study uses a modified Alexnet structure to realise maritime targets classification on the Gaofen-3 spaceborne SAR images. The maritime targets dataset (MTD), including boats, cargo ships, container ships, windmills, oil tankers, and iron towers, is conducted. Moreover, the proposed convolution neural networks (CNNs) structure is trained and tested on the MTD. Experimental results show that the model can get an accuracy of 92.10% in classifying the six kinds of targets, and the performance is superior compared with other CNNs and traditional supportive vector machine algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: A decoupled visual model and a fractional PID controller are designed aiming at the problem of the view distortion in the fillet weld welding process. Firstly, the intersection point coordinates of two laser stripes are selected as the image characteristics, and the decoupled visual model is designed to the tracking control of the fillet weld seam so that the control value in two directions is decoupled, reducing the difficulty of control. In addition to this, the image may produce distortion in the dynamic tracking process, causing nonlinearity and coupling in two directions. To solve this problem, the fractional‐order PID controller is designed so that the adjustment range and the control ability are improved better than the traditional PID controller. Some experiments verify that the desired performance can be achieved by using the proposed methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Moringa oleifera is a tropical plant with high nutritional and medicinal value. Recent studies have reported its remarkable effects in inflammatory, antioxidative, and anti‐diabetes modulations, but there was no significant report on its role in animal breeding. In this study, we investigated the effects of dietary Moringa oleifera leaf (MOL) on reproductive performances in mice. We studied the reproductive performance of mice for six consecutive gestations. Mice fed with 4% MOL diet showed improved litter size, litter birth weight, and litter survivals until weaning age compared to control mice fed with normal diet (p < 0.05). Mice fed with MOL diet did not change weight and organ coefficients. Serum malondialdehyde (MDA) concentrations in both male and female mice were significantly decreased by dietary MOL (p < 0.05), but glutathione peroxidase (GSH‐PX) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) were unchanged. For male, dietary MOL significantly reduced sperm abnormality rate (p < 0.05) and Bcl2‐associated X protein (Bax) expression in testis (p < 0.05), but did not affect serum testosterone and the expression levels of androgen receptor (AR), phosphoglycerate kinase 2 (Pgk2), protamine2 (Prm2), and B cell leukemia/lymphoma 2 (Bcl2) in testis. For female, dietary MOL did not change serum estradiol and the expressions of estrogen receptor beta (ERβ), Bcl2, Bax, and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR) in ovary. In summary, MOL increased litter size and antioxidant ability, reduced the rate of sperm abnormality and the expression of Bax. Therefore, MOL may serve as a functional feed addictive for improving animal reproductive performance. In present study, Moringa oleifera leaf (MOL), adopted as the first time, was used to identify the effect on long‐term (six consecutive gestations) reproductive performance of animal. We find dietary MOL improved reproductive performance of mice. Dietary MOL decreased serum MDA in both male and female mice, and more importantly, MOL reduced the rate of sperm abnormality in male, probably by down‐regulating the expression of Bax. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Zinc–air batteries (ZABs) are vulnerable to the ambient environment (e.g., humidity and CO2), and have serious selfdischarge issues, resulting in a short shelf life. To overcome these challenges, a near‐neutral quaternary ammonium (QA) functionalized polyvinyl alcohol electrolyte membrane (different from conventional alkali‐type membranes) has been developed. QA functionalization leads to the formation of interconnected nanochannels by creating hydrophilic/‐phobic separations at the nanoscale. These nanochannels selectively transport OH− ions with a reduced migration barrier, while inhibiting [Zn(NH3)6]2+ crossover. Owing to the superior water retention ability and enhanced chemical stability of the membrane, the solid‐state zinc–air battery (SZAB) displays outstanding flexibility, a promising cycle lifetime, and a large volumetric energy density. More importantly, the self‐discharge rate of SZAB is depressed to less than 7 % per month, and the fully dehydrated SZAB could recover its rechargeability upon replenishment of the solution of NH4Cl. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: 3D hierarchical heterostructure NiFe LDH@NiCoP/NF electrodes are prepared successfully on nickel foam with special interface engineering and synergistic effects. This research finds that the as‐prepared NiFe LDH@NiCoP/NF electrodes have a more sophisticated inner structure and intensive interface than a simple physical mixture. The NiFe LDH@NiCoP/NF electrodes require an overpotential as low as 120 and 220 mV to deliver 10 mA cm−2 for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in 1 m KOH, respectively. Tafel and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy further reveal a favorable kinetic during electrolysis. Specifically, the NiFe LDH@NiCoP/NF electrodes are simultaneously used as cathode and anode for overall water splitting, which requires a cell voltage of 1.57 V at 10 mA cm−2. Furthermore, the synergistic effect of the heterostructure improves the structural stability and promotes the generation of active phases during HER and OER, resulting in excellent stability over 100 h of continuous operation. Moreover, the strategy and interface engineering of the introduced heterostructure can also be used to prepare other bifunctional and cost‐efficient electrocatalysts for various applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three- to four-times higher performance of biohybrid photoelectrochemical cells with photosynthetic reaction centers (RC) has been achieved by using a DNA-based biomimetic antenna. Synthetic dyes Cy3 and Cy5 were chosen and strategically placed in the anntena in such a way that they can collect additional light energy in the visible region of the solar spectrum and transfer it to RC through Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET). The antenna, a DNA templated multiple dye system, is attached to each Rhodobacter sphaeroides RC near the primary donor, P, to facilitate the energy transfer process. Excitation with a broad light spectrum (approximating sunlight) triggers a cascade of excitation energy transfer from Cy3 to Cy5 to P, and also directly from Cy5 to P. This additional excitation energy increases the RC absorbance cross-section in the visible and thus the performance of the photoelectrochemical cells. DNA-based biomimetic antennas offer a tunable, modular light-harvesting system for enhancing RC solar coverage and performance for photoelectrochemical cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For understanding the relationship between the structure and catalytic property and further optimizing the synthetic steps, it is imperative to obtain basic information about the characteristics of heterogeneous catalysts, such as porosity, dispersion, and accessibility of the active metal phases. Herein, we reported a multiscale analysis of an eggshell-Co-based catalyst for the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS), which was prepared by wetness impregnation. Conventional characterization techniques, such as mercury porosimetry, nitrogen physisorption, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), were employed for obtaining basic information about the porosity and dispersion of cobalt on the nanoscale; in addition, phase-contrast X-ray computed microtomography (X-ray μCT) as a powerful method was employed for obtaining vitally complementary information regarding the 3 D structure of a millimeter-sized mesoporous silica support and a full-field view of the macroscopic distribution of cobalt. The Co reduction behavior and FTS performance was correlated with the structure analyses, highlighting the importance of simultaneously controlling the dispersion and spatial distribution of Co ranging from macro to nanoscale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The oxygen-evolution reaction (OER) is a bottleneck reaction because of a significant overpotential loss in water electrolysis. Currently, MnO2-based materials are promising candidates for OER electrocatalysts owing to their abundance and excellent properties. Herein, a hydrothermal method was used to prepare MnO2 nanowires with different diameters. Furthermore, an impregnation method was applied to dope MnO2 nanowires with Ca and Ag ions. Characterization by TEM, XRD, Raman, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), N2 adsorption, and linear-scanning voltammogram analysis were performed on these materials. It was found that the OER activity of as-prepared and doped MnO2 nanowires is highly dependent on the fraction of surface trivalent manganese in MnO2 nanowires. Density functional theory calculations of doped MnO2 revealed the delicate change of the electronic properties of MnO2 nanowires after doping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stability of electrocatalysts grown on substrates is a significant challenge for the construction of 3‐dimensional (3D) stainless‐steel (SS)‐based electrodes for highly efficient water splitting. This paper presents an efficient and universal process to enhance the interfacial interaction between SS and highly active electrocatalysts for the preparation of 3D electrodes through the formation of an interfacial network of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) on the SS. Nanoscale X‐ray computed tomography and focused ion beam are used to visualize the interface between CNTs and SS, and 3D structure of CNT/SS electrodes. The strongly interconnected CNTs network increases the surface area of the SS support that benefits the modification of highly active electrocatalysts and also serves as an electron/charge‐conductive highway between electrocatalysts and support. The electrocatalysts on CNT/SS further improve hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) performances, respectively, of the 3D electrodes. While compared to the SS‐based electrodes reported recently, Pt/OxCNT/SS shows the best HER activity over wide pH range and RuO2/OxCNT/SS exhibits a comparable OER performance in neutral and alkaline electrolyte. An efficient approach is reported to combine highly active electrocatalysts with SS for the preparation of active and stable 3D electrodes that can be further explored in various areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Front Cover shows a 3D view of the spatial distribution of active metal phases in a millimeter‐sized porous support. In their Full Paper, T. Han, X. Li et al. employed phase‐contrast X‐ray computed microtomography (X‐ray μCT) to image the 3D structure of the cobalt eggshell catalyst. Based on the critical structure information from X‐ray μCT and other conventional characterization technologies, the Fischer–Tropsch performance of eggshell catalysts was fully understood. Their results provide new insights into the impregnation behavior on the millimeter‐sized porous support and offer novel perspectives toward the rational design of industrial catalysts. More information can be found in the Full Paper by T. Han, X. Li et al. on page 2920 in Issue 18, 2016 (DOI: 10.1002/cctc.201600657). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The title substrates are transformed into α-imino rhodiumcarbene intermediates which react with furans or tetrahydrofurans to give pyridoindoles and tetrahydrofuropyrroloindoles, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]